#kinsale – The newly revamped Kinsale Yacht Club welcomes the SB20 fleet this coming weekend for their first ever championship event at the South Coast harbour. The new clubhouse opened its doors on the June bank holiday weekend but the SB20 fleet is the first championship event to be hosted there.
PRO Tony Ireson and his team are expecting up to 25 entries for the event and competition is expected to be tight as ever. 6 boats from around Cork Harbour have been doing a lot of local one-design racing and as ever the Cork crews are expected to offer some stiff competition. 5 boats are travelling from the combined Northern Ireland clubs. Past winners Peter Kennedy and Stephen Kane on Ridgefence are good in the light airs and will be ones to watch. Darren Martin from Strangford Lough is proving to be a force to be reckoned and with his light crew could do very well. Defending champion Ben Duncan and his team on Sharkbait will have their work cut out for them especially as conditions are forecast to be light.
For the first time at their regional events, this year the Irish SB20 class are rigidly enforcing the 270 Kilo weight restriction so it will be interesting to see how many of the crews will be stripping down to their underwear at registration. In international fleets, the SB20's are sailed to within a half kilogram of the weight restriction. Some of the top European crews opt for 4 crew members however the Irish crews tend to forfeit weight for added downwind advantage. This weekend will tell which theory is right. The world championships are due to take place in Hyeres in September where weight may be an advantage. Up to 10 Irish boats are expected to make the journey.
